Christian Salzer (CGA photo)
GREENVILLE, SC (June 17, 2018) -- Christian Salzer of Sumter defeated Logan Sowell of Kershaw 3-and-2 to claim the 46th South Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship at The Furman University Golf Club in Greenville, S.C. "I knew coming into this week coming from U.S. Open Sectionals at a very difficult course, that I could attack Furman, so that helped my confidence this week,” said Salzer.
After two rounds of stroke play, Salzer found himself in the No. 21 seed. "I saw that I would have to face Todd White in the second round, and nobody wants to play him in match play, and I also knew Logan was playing really well, so I knew the matches would be tough,” said the rising junior at North Carolina State University. Sunday’s match proved Salzer’s words to be true, as he had to come from behind to defeat Sowell in the championship match.
On Sunday, Salzer, the 2015 Jimmy Anderson Junior Boys champion, found himself two down through five holes in the championship match, but rallied back to square the match with a birdie on 9. “All week my dad reminded me to stay patient, and that’s exactly what I did.” Salzer then went on to birdie holes 10 and 11 to take a 2 up lead. "My college coach tells me to just wait for something to good happen,” said Salzer, “and that’s when putts started falling.”
The two would halve hole 12, trade holes 13 & 14, and after halving hole 15, Salzer was 2 up standing on the sixteenth tee. Both players wound up short of the green on the par-3 sixteenth. After Sowell failed to convert his up-and-down attempt, Salzer’s patience finally paid off when he drained a 4-footer to win his second CGA championship. “Winning this championship does a lot for my confidence heading into the rest of the summer, and proves that my hard work is paying off.” “It was nice to have my dad caddy for me all week, and to win on Father’s Day was special,” said the champion.
View results for South Carolina Amateur Match Play
ABOUT THE
South Carolina Amateur Match Play
Championship format is 36 holes of stroke play to
determine 32 qualifiers for
match play. The defending champion is seeded
number one
for match play if otherwise eligible.
Entry is open to any male amateur golfer who has
reached his 13th birthday, is a legal resident of
South Carolina, is a member in good
standing of a club which is a member of the
Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)
and has an active GHIN® USGA Handicap Index® at
a CGA member club that
does not exceed 7.4.
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